Clutch Chatter

[jerry shook]

Just had a rebuilt trans installed in my 40, also replaced the clutch and pressure plate, my mechanic said the flywheel looked good. now i have a bad chatter, will this get better before my car shakes apart.

[oldskool]

a couple of things to check,loose or bad motor mounts,anti chatter rods missing or not adjusted,pressure plate fingers out of adjustment,oil or grease on flywheel,warped clutch plate,made china clutch

[Old Henry]

I just did all the same plus had my flywheel resurfaced and trued and new transmission mount to try to get rid of the chatter I had. Still bad chatter. It doesn't get any better over time.

I have to engage the clutch a different way than when it worked right. I start with higher engine RPM's then engage the clutch a bit faster than without chatter. The chatter is at lower RPM's so I get the car moving slightly by letting the clutch slip at high RPM's then let it engage all the way while letting the RPM's drop to get past the chatter point quickly. To move short distances at very low speed, like pulling into the garage from stopping in the driveway to let the door open, I use higher RPM's and slip the clutch all the way in.

You'll soon find the exact point in the relationship between RPM and chatter and learn to avoid that or get through that point quickly.

That's what works for me.

Funny thing is that I have virtually no chatter in reverse????

I had no chatter before replacing the pressure plate and clutch disc and having the flywheel resurfaced last June. A word to the wise: If you have no chatter, DO NOT mess with the clutch unless it's totally worn out!! The clutch is definitely a thing that "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

[TonyM]

I just installed a rebuilt trans I have chatter at low RPMs in first and reverse. Just like old Henry, higher RPMs and it is not there. I have new trans mounts and I am going to install new motor mounts in front. Chatter rods in place. Was thinking about the clutch and flywheel deal but I can see it has not worked for a couple guys.

[Wmgmitchell]

I recently had the engine in my 40 rebuilt. I had clutch chatter before the rebuild and didn't want to repeat the experience. I had the flywheel resurfaced and spoke with the owner of The Early Ford Store in San Dimas CA who has devoted his life to these cars. He told me that the discs sold by the different vendors are worthless. I'm not sure where he gets his, but I bought one of his discs, a pressure plate and throw out bearing and it now works perfectly! No more clutch chatter.

[TonyM]

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I think I will buy the clutch stuff and
keep the parts so that I can do it eventually.

The Early Ford Store. Thanks for the tip.

[jerry shook]

Thanks guys. My car did not chatter before changing the clutch an pressure plate, now i wish i had put the old one back in. What are chatter rods?.

[19Fordy]

Jerry, This will answer your questions.
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showth...i+chatter+rods

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by jerry shook

Thanks guys. My car did not chatter before changing the clutch an pressure plate, now i wish i had put the old one back in. What are chatter rods?.

Same thing happened to me 10 months ago. While my engine was out being rebuilt the builder said, "Maybe we ought to resurface your flywheel and replace your clutch plate and pressure plate while it's out since it's so hard to get to, even though they're not worn out yet." Seemed to make sense - "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and all that rot. So I said to go ahead. Man oh man do I rue the day! Had clutch chatter like never before after that and still have it after having just done all of that again this month with VanPelt's stuff.

[rotorwrench]

If you have OEM Ford/Borg Warner Long type 10-inch clutch, I would recommend sending the old clutch disk and pressure plate to Fort Wayne Clutch for a rebuild. The quality of the linings is better than some of the repros. I haven't looked at the repro disks but I wonder if those use a marcel spring disk or not. It is important to have a good marcel spring in the disk lining stack up. They also do an excellent job of adjusting the pressure plate components and replace any worn parts with OEM type parts.

The flywheel clutch surface should be trued up with the crankshaft flange to insure no eccentricity there plus starting out with a good fresh metal surface is a must. It's a lot of work to change a clutch on an old torque tube drive so I guy should try to get it all as good as it can get.

[Rich Overton]

For what it's worth. Back in the forties and fifties when my cronies and I were running the thirties and forties Fords, we would all have the same problem in first gear. Ninety percent of the time it was the springs in the disc. Most times they would be cracked. Occasionally they would be very loose in the disc. Remember we were using Borg & Beck USA made assemblies and other USA manufacturers. We attributed it to being too heavy going through the gears and "spitting skins." I can just imagine what quality we are now receiving from the importers. Just a little input. Make sure you inspect the springs in the disc carefully before buttoning it up.
Rich O.

[Gabby]

I have 2 set of NOS anti chatter rods if anyone want a set, price is reasonable.

[jack orchard]

Don't forget to fix any looseness in the clutch pedal linkage and equalizer bar...jack

[tubman]

Originally Posted by Old Henry

Funny thing is that I have virtually no chatter in reverse????

I think this is a very telling statement. It says to me that the problem is with engine mounts and "steady rods" (that's what we called them back then), rather than the clutch itself. I built a '36 coupe in the early '60's and left them out, because, well, basically, I was lazy. The clutch chattered like crazy in first gear, but was fine in reverse. After much farting around, I re-installed the rods and it solved the problem.

[Old Henry]

I'm going to attach my video camera under the car aimed at the tranny and engine then start up with some chatter and see if there is any movement at all that rods would help with. Can't imagine there being any on my '47 with the new engine and tranny mounts right down tight but we'll see. May also watch it from above with the floor out. I've done that before and saw no movement. Will do it again.

[FlatheadTed]

I had so much trouble with this jumping clutch problem ,I now do my own ,I have some notes on how to fix it, I will post when I find them ,

[tubman]

IIRC, I had to put a couple of washers between the steady rod nuts and the bell housing to get the slack out of the system.

[Johnnydidd]

I agree with Rich, clutch springs in the clutch plate, also we would we would burn in a clutch, we always got grease on the clutch, we would burn in the clutch which would cause it to slip and burn off the grease we got on during assy.

[tubman]

Originally Posted by Johnnydidd

I agree with Rich, clutch springs in the clutch plate, also we would we would burn in a clutch, we always got grease on the clutch, we would burn in the clutch which would cause it to slip and burn off the grease we got on during assy.

I was always told to keep the clutch surfaces scrupulously clean; any foreign material (even oil from finger prints) could permanently ruin the clutch job. I'm glad you were able to correct the problem.

[Wmgmitchell]

I spoke with The Early Ford Store again today about this issue. Their feel that rebuilt original Ford pressure plates are vastly superior to the new ones, and they also prefer rebuilt Ford discs. On the discs, the originals contain a thin wavy metal membrane that's not present on some of the new ones and apparently this too helps with their performance.

All I can say is these parts solved my chatter problems and I'd buy them again in a New York minute.